Current Affairs Quiz - April 2022

Notes:
According to data from the Reserve Bank of India, a total of 27 scheduled commercial banks and financial institutions have reported 96 cases of fraud, involving a total amount of Rs 34,097 crore during April-December 2021.
While Punjab National Bank recorded the highest value of frauds worth Rs 4,820 crore, Bank of India recorded the highest number of frauds at 13.

Notes:
SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch launched the ‘Manthan’, a six-week long ideathon, in association with various institutions including BSE, NSE, NSDL, CDSL, KFintech, CAMS, LinkInTime and MCX.
It will facilitate the creation of a set of ideas and innovative solutions related to the securities market in India.

Notes:
‘Mes Aynak site’ and ‘Buddhas of Bamiyan’ are located in Afghanistan. The Taliban regime in Afghanistan has announced that it would protect the ancient Buddha statues in Mes Aynak.
It is also a copper mine site, where the Taliban are hoping for Chinese investment. When Talibans ruled Afghanistan, they destructed the centuries-old Buddha statues in Bamiyan using artillery, explosives, and rockets. UNESCO included the remains of the Bamiyan Buddhas in its list of world heritage sites in 2003.

Notes:
The venture capital fund (VCF) scheme was implemented by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to help aspiring entrepreneurs belonging to SCs and OBCs new businesses. As the performance of the scheme is not satisfactory, the Ministry is set to launch a “mentorship” programme.
Named the ‘Ambedkar Young Entrepreneur-Mentor’ (AYE-Mentor) programme, the IFCI Venture, which is the VCF manager, will empanel businessmen or heads of companies or veterans of banking and financial institutions, as ‘mentors’.

Notes:
Directorate General of Foreign Trade, under the aegis of the Ministry of Commerce and Industries is responsible for the Foreign Trade Policy (DGFT) of India.
Recently, the DGFT announced that the existing Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20, which is valid upto March 31, 2022 is extended up to September 30, 2022. After the outbreak of Covid-19, the policy was first extended by a year to the end of March 2020.

Notes:
The US-based National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has launched a Phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate three experimental HIV vaccines based on a messenger RNA (mRNA) platform.
It is the technology used in several approved COVID-19 vaccines. This study named HVTN 302 is sponsored by NIAID while the NIAID-funded HIV Vaccine Trials Network is conducting the trial.

Notes:
Two Indian musicians were among the winners at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.
Composer Ricky Kej won his second Grammy Award as he won the award for Best New Age Album, jointly with Stewart Copeland for their album ‘Divine Tides’. Indian-American singer-songwriter Falguni Shah, called as Falu won in the Best Children’s Music Album category for her album ‘A Colorful World’.

Notes:
State-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T), and ReNew Power have announced a joint venture (JV) company to develop the green hydrogen sector in India.
India plans to produce 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030. In February, the Centre launched the country’s first green hydrogen policy as part of its energy transition plan.

Notes:
As per the official data, India’s trade deficit rose 87.5 per cent to USD 192.41 billion in 2021-22 as against USD 102.63 billion in the previous year.
While total exports during last fiscal year increased to a record high of USD 417.81 billion, imports too rose to USD 610.22 billion, causing a trade gap of USD 192.41 billion.  For the first time, India’s monthly merchandise exports exceeded USD 40 billion, reaching USD 40.38 billion in March 2022.

Notes:
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has entered into a partnership with Canada’s largest payment organisation, Payments Canada.
The partnership aims to transform its payment system operations and help in the implementation of the Real-Time Rail (RTR). RTR is a new real-time payments system that will allow Canadian users to initiate payments and receive funds in seconds at any point of the day.